NPL Day 2

NPL Day 2: Sunday 18 June 2023

Knivskjelvatna - Rundvatnet via Knivskjellodden

This morning we slept until we felt fully rested - or as close as we could get. So sometime before 9 we woke up and had breakfast (chocolate pudding with peanut butter) by the tent.

Lukas had problems with his sleeping pad tonight, and had to inflate it several times during the night, so that was something that made us somewhat concerned.

After breakfast we started to walk down. We passed some people, and then we reached a steep decline that was really steep, but not as steep as yesterday. We hiked diagonally downwards for quite some time until we finally reached the end of the cape. There we dumped our bags and walked all the way out on the rocks. We filmed a little, took photos and geocached. It was a cool place to visit, and cool to see the North Cape from this direction. We also watched a cruise ship pass by.

When we were done, we started to head back. It felt almost like we had a neverending hill in front of us. So we took quite a lot of short breaks to catch our breath.

Almost all of the people were elderly (German) couples, so we were rather surprised when two female runners passed us on our way back. When we finally passed the parking lot we could sadly conclude that there was nothing interesting there. Then we left the "tourist trail" and started E1 properly.

There were some cairns in the beginning, but they quickly disappeared and so did the trail, but we could see the E1 trail on our maps (gps-watch and phone) so we could still follow it fairly well.

Not long after we left the tourists behind us, it was time for dinner. We went over a hill, and sat down in the decline on the other side. The view was amazing. A steep decline, then a lake below. Further in front of us was the sea, with mountains behind - some with snowy peaks. The sun warmed us, and we ate slowly - enjoying our meal. Then, when we had finished eating, we lay down on our EVA pads and rested our feet and took a light nap before continuing.

During the day we had seen some clouds in the distance. First along the coast and then all the bays and valleys. As we continued down on the other side of the hill we were sitting in, we suddenly were in the cloud, and the bright sunny day changed immediately into a completely different armosphere. Now it was foggy, windy and we could see maybe 40-50 m around us. Everything suddenly felt more lonely and quiet even though we walked very close to the road after a while, but we couldn't see it.

After a lot of walking diagonally we finally decided where to make camp. Just before we reached the spot, Luks almost stepped on a bird! A few moments later, as Kim passed the same area, she saw the nest, just a few steps in front of her, on the "trail". We quickly continued and hoped the bird would come back to sit on her eggs soon.

Earlier we had debated back and forth whether or not to go to Hytte Camp, but decided against it in the end. So after we put up the tent, Lukas went to Hytte Camp anyway, to check out the place and use the bathroom while Kim stayed by camp and made the beds. Lukas thought it was a good idea to not go there since the reception was 3 km(!?) away.

In the evening Kim boiled water and washed herself with her wettex, while her teeth were chattering like crazy because it was cold. Next up was Lukas but he didn't have any problem with it at all. Either way it was really nice and fresh, especially after these past two days with hot sunshine all day, barely a breeze during the day and really steep hills.

Then it was finally time to go to bed again - we just had to have some more snacks first.

Today's:

Distance: 20.19 km

Start time: 10:58

End time: 20:40

Ascent: 541 m

Descent: 655 m

Tent nights: 3/3